Samuel Houston Sharp

Samuel Houston Sharp, Sr. . . . aka Sam Sharp . . . is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . and is the step-brother . . . as well as the brother-in-law . . . of the Keeper of this Journal (aka James Madison Hall) . . .




Samuel Houston Sharp
Samuel H. /Sharp/
Sam Sharp

* Born about 1839 - Texas (probably San Augustine County)
* Died about 1885 - Houston County, Texas
* Age at death: possibly 46 years old
* Buried about 1885 - Hall Cemetery, Houston County, Texas

Parents

* John M. Sharp 1800/1815-/1846
* Mahala Lee Roberts 1816-1885


Marriage, non-defined relationship, and children --

* Married on 11 July 1861, Liberty, Liberty County, Texas, to Mary Alexandrien Lemaire 1843-1876, with

o James Hall 1863-1936; findagrave
o Infant 1864-1864
o Samuel Houston 1867-1921; findagrave
o Margaret Elizabeth 1869-1935
o Ida Mae 1871-1964
o Berta Mary 1873-1955
o Willie /1876-ca 1885




In the year 1881, a baby boy is born to Fannie Bass, who, in 1880, was listed as a servant in the household of Mahala (Sam's mother). DNA testing has indicated that there is a connection between descendants of this baby boy and other descendants of Sam and Nellie.




Ida Mae's Rememberings. 1962. My father, Samuel H. Sharp, was the son of Mahala Lee Roberts Sharp Hall. . . . My father never married again again after my mother's death, & died when I was above fourteen years old. He is buried next to & on the right side of my mother, but there is no marker at his grave. Hall Cemetery, Houston County, Texas.

• Sam's CSA involvement
  
• All mentions of Sam in this Journal
  

Review of Hall's Journal - Part One

The Houston County Courier
Crockett, Texas
Thursday, February 2, 1967

Hall's Journal of 60's
Reviewed For Readers
By H. B. Milburn

In our Houston County Library there is a three hundred and twenty-five page Journal that's going to prove of interest to many descendants of pioneer families living in Houston County. This Journal has just recently been presented TO THE LIBRARY by Mrs. Mahala HALL BROWNLOW of Shreveport, La., and her nephew Robert L. HALL of Anahuac, Texas.

The Journal is of the Civil War period, and was kept by JAMES MADISON HALL when he lived at Hall's Bluff during the years 1860-1866.

Here, we feel that we should give a biographical sketch of James Madison HALL, who kept the Journal -- and to this we turned to our ever highly prized "History of Houston County" written many many years ago by Judge A. A. ALDRICH; and from this, in part, we quote.

"James Madison HALL was the son of Joshua A [James] HALL. He was born February 22nd, probably in Maryland. He came with his father to Houston County as early as July 1st, 1839. He married Cornelia A. BRACKEN, as early as 1851.

"James Madison [HALL] was elected district clerk in Houston County in 1847, and held the office until 1857.

"About 1858 he and his first wife were divorced and he later married his stepsister, a daughter of his stepmother, Mahala HALL, with whom he lived until his death in 1866."

The Journal "covers the entire period of the Civil War from 1861 to 1866. In this he has preserved some valued history of that period."

"James Madison HALL was the son of Joshua H [James] HALL. The records show that JOSHUA J. HALL was here as early as July 1st, 1839; and that he was owner of more than twenty-three thousand acres of land on which he located his home, and on which he lived up to the time of his death. He later married the widow Mahala L. SHARP, the daughter of Elisha ROBERTS, a pioneer citizen of San Augustine County. Soon after reaching Houston County he established a warehouse and business at a point on the bank of the Trinity River, near his home, which, ever since, has been known as Hall's Bluff.

"Hall's Bluff," as Judge A. A. ALDRICH wrote "was quite a business place where cotton was shipped to market on steamboats that plied the river to and from Galveston. The business of hauling cotton to that point, and goods from that point, to Crockett merchants, was a regular trade before the coming of the railroad."

To be continued . . .

John Connell 1833-1902

J.H. Connell, a capitalist of Belton, was born in San Augustine county, Texas, when Texas was a province of Mexico, April 3, 1833, son of John H. and Matilda T. (Roberts) Connell, natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky respectively.


John H. Connell's father, a native of Ireland, came to America at an early day and settled in Pennsylvania, where he followed his trade, that of blacksmithing. John H., leaving home when a youth, came in 1826 to Texas and engaged in the mercantile business near Austin, where he was married in 1830. Mr. Connell came to Texas with Sterling C. Robertson, and both secured large tracts of land.


The Roberts family were also among the pioneers of this section of the country. J.H. [sic -- i.e., should be Elisha] Roberts went from Kentucky to Louisiana in 1819, and in 1820 came to San Augustine, Texas. Elisha Roberts was one of the earliest settlers within the confines of the State.


Mr. Connell died at Viesca in 1834. He was truly a self-made man, and during his lifetime acquired considerable property. Belton is located on a portion of the land on which Mr. Connell once lived. Mrs. Connell having donated to the county of Bell 120 acres, in 1850, on which to establish the county seat. John H. Connell and his wife were the parents of two children: Josephine, wife of Anderson Hamblin, both being now deceased; and J.H., the subject of our sketch.


After the death of Mr. Connell, Mrs. Connell was married in 1835, to Samuel T. Allen, of New York, and their union was blessed in the birth of two children: Thomas R., deceased; and Eunice A., widow of Colonel John T. Coffee, of Missouri. Samuel T. Allen was killed by the Indians at the three forks of the Trinity, in November, 1838, and in the fall of 1847 Mrs. Allen married his brother, Thomas J. Allen. Her death occurred April 3, 1879, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Coffee, in Georgetown, Williamson county, this state.


The subject of our sketch was reared amid the frontier scenes of what is now San Augustine, Milam, Williamson and Galveston counties. In 1854 he went to California, making the trip from Galveston by water; spent two years in the southern part of the Golden State, and while working in the mines lost his health. He was, however, financially successful. Returning home in the latter part of 1855, he engaged in farming and stock-raising in Texas up to the year 1861. The war coming on in that year, he joined the Confederate forces; was in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and participated in numerous skirmishes and battles.


Returning to his home in the latter part of May, 1865, Mr. Connell set about repairing his wasted fortune, and with renewed energy engaged in his old occupation of farming and stock-raising. He continued his operations in Williamson county till January 28, 1884, when he rented his farm and moved to his property in Belton. He owns considerable valuable real estate, his Belton home place consisting of some 250 acres adjoining town. He has a handsome residence, an intelligent family, and is comfortably situated to enjoy life, having practically retired from active business.


Mr. Connell was married September 15, 1869, to Miss Jennie Howlett, a native of Texas, born in Milam county, October 5, 1844, daughter of James and Sarah (Moore) Howlett, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee respectively. Both the Howletts and the Moores were among the early pioneers of Texas.


Mr. and Mrs. Connell are the parents of five children: John H., Jr., T.E., Susan, May T. and Albert L. T.E. is now a student at the State University of Texas. Mr. Connell and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and are held in high esteem by all who know them.

A Memorial and Biographical History of McLennan, Falls, Bell, and Coryell Counties (Chicago: Lewis, 1893; rpt., St. Louis: Ingmire, 1984).

Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts

175 years ago today . . . on the 3rd day of November . . . in the year 1816 . . . a baby girl is born in Washington Parish, Louisana . . . she is given the name Mahala Lee Roberts . . .


 

. . . Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts . . . aka (in this Journal) Mrs. Hall . . . or Mrs. J.J. Hall . . . or Mother . . . is a 3rd great-grandma of the Keeper of this Blog (aka Vickie Everhart) . . . and is the step-mother . . . as well as the mother-in-law . . . of the Keeper of this Journal (aka James Madison Hall) . . .



 

Our Mahala is 43 years of age when she is first mentioned in the Journal . . . on Monday, January 16th, 1860 . . . when J.M. Hall writes that . . . Mrs. J.J. Hall also left on a visit to Mrs. Matthews with a view of purchasing a negro man for me . . .





Mahala Lee Roberts
North American Indian name meaning /"Woman"/
Mahaley /HALL/
Michala /Roberts/

• Born on 3 November 1816 - Washington Parish, Louisiana
  
• Died on 27 June 1885 - Elkhart Creek, Houston County, Texas
  
• Age at death: 68 years old
  
• Buried in June 1885 - Hall Cemetery, Houston County, Texas
  

Parents

* Elisha Roberts ca 1774-1844 * Martha Gill ca 1781-1845

Marriages and children

* Married on 22 March 1838, San Augustine County, Texas, to John M. Sharp ca 1800/1815-/ca 1846, with
o Samuel Houston ca 1839-ca 1885; findagrave o Margaret Annot ca 1840-ca 1878; findagrave
* Married on 12 February 1851, San Augustine County, Texas, to Joshua James Hall, Colonel ca 1790-ca 1871, with
o Roberta A. 1852-1915 o Horace Oscar 1854-1934

Notes from Ida Mae:- My Grandmother [i.e., Mahala] came from San Augustine to Houston County, and I believe that my father [i.e., Samuel Houston Sharp, Sr.] and aunt [i.e., Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp] were born there before she came to this County [i.e., Houston Co., TX]. I do not know anything about her family, except that she had a sister named Margaret, who married a McDonald and lived in Houston County, Texas. . . .

• A Tribute to Our Mahala
  
• Our Mahala's Extensive Timeline
  
• All mentions of Mahala in this Journal as of this date (updates will be ongoing through at least September of 2016)